The Yellow Emperor's Classic of medicine : a new translation of the Neijing Suwen with commentary

317 Pages·1995·1.46 MB·English

by  Ni

“Pondering how best to describe this distinctly innovative translation of the
Neijing, the most apt image would be the instant clarity revealed by wiping
a steam-misted mirror. Suddenly everything is clear.”
—American Journal of Acupuncture
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Neijing is one of the most important classics of Taoism, as well as the
highest authority on traditional Chinese medicine. Its authorship is
attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who reigned during
the third millennium BCE. This new translation consists of the eighty-one
chapters of the section of the Neijing known as the Suwen, or “Questions of
Organic and Fundamental Nature.” (The other section, called the Lingshu,
is a technical book on acupuncture and is not included here.)
Written in the form of a discourse between Huang Di and his ministers,
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine contains a wealth of knowledge,
including etiology, physiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of
disease, as well as in-depth investigation of such diverse subjects as ethics,
psychology, and cosmology. All of these subjects are discussed in a holistic
context that says life is not fragmented, as in the model provided by modern
science, but rather that all the pieces make up an interconnected whole. By
revealing the natural laws of this holistic universe, the book offers much
practical advice on how to promote a long, happy, and healthy life.
The original text of the Neijing presents broad concepts and is often brief
with details. The translator’s elucidations and interpretations, incorporated
into the translation, help not only to clarify the meaning of the text but also
to make it a highly readable narrative for students—as well as for everyone
curious about the underlying principles of Chinese medicine.
MAOSHING NI, Ph.D., is a doctor of Oriental medicine and a licensed
acupuncturist in Santa Monica, California. He is also the author of Chinese
Herbology Made Easy and The Tao of Nutrition.
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© 1995 by Maoshing Ni
Cover art: Detail from Walk of Qin Shi Huang Di (221-206 BCE) in a Palanquin, from the “Historical
Anthology of the Lives of the Emperors of China,” Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. © Giraudon/Art
Resource, NY
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Su wen. English.
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of medicine: a new translation of the Neijing Suwen with
commentary/Maoshing Ni.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN 978-0-83482576-5
ISBN 978-1-57062-080-5 (acid-free paper) 1. Su wen. 2. Medicine, Chinese—Early works to 1800.
I. Ni, Maoshing. II. Title.
R127.1.S93Y4513 1995 94-44058
610′.951—dc20 CIP
Dedicated to a world in need of balance and harmony
CONTENTS
Preface
A Note on the Translation
Acknowledgments
Pronunciation Guide
1. The Universal Truth
2. The Art of Life Through the Four Seasons
3. The Union of Heaven and Human Beings
4. The Truth from the Golden Chamber
5. The Manifestation of Yin and Yang from the Macrocosm to the Microcosm
6. The Interplay of Yin and Yang
7. Further Discourse on Yin and Yang
8. The Sacred Teachings
9. The Energetic Cycles of the Universe and Their Effects on Human Beings
10. Dysfunction of the Five Zang Viscera
11. Further Discourse on the Five Zang Viscera
12. Methods of Treatment
13. Treatment of the Mind and the Body
14. The Art of Medicine
15. Doctrines of the Jade Tablet
16. Diagnostic Importance and Discussion of the Collapse of the Meridians
17. The Methods of Pulse Examination
18. Pulse Analysis
19. Seasonal Variations and Abnormalities in Pulses
20. Determining Life and Death
21. Meridian Pathology and Corresponding Pulse Signs
22. Seasonal Organ Pathology
23. Paradigm of the Five Elemental Phases
24. Channel Constituents and Acupuncture Techniques
25. The Preservation of Health
26. Acupuncture in Accordance with Cosmic Cycles
27. Pathogens
28. The Nature of Excess and Deficiency
29. Discourse on the Taiyin and Yangming Channels
30. Disorders of the Yangming Channel
31. Discussion of Febrile Disease
32. Acupuncture in the Treatment of Febrile Disease
33. A Discourse on Wen Bing
34. Imbalances
35. Malaria-like Illnesses
36. Acupuncture in the Treatment of Malaria
37. Pathologic Disorders of Heat and Cold
38. Etiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Cough
39. Differentiation of Pain
40. Conditions of the Abdomen
41. Acupuncture in the Treatment of Back Pain
42. The Pathology of Wind
43. The Bi Syndrome
44. Wei Conditions
45. Jue Conditions: The Separation of Yin and Yang
46. Normal and Abnormal Courses of Illness
47. Unusual Illness
48. Extraordinary Illness
49. Channel Pathology in Accordance with the Energy Almanac
50. Rudiments of Acupuncture
51. Needling Depth in Acupuncture
52. Contraindications in Acupuncture
53. Principles of Tonification and Sedation in Acupuncture
54. The Art of Acupuncture
55. Acupuncture Techniques
56. Dermatomes of the Channels
57. Channels and Collaterals
58. Acupuncture Points
59. Pathways of the Channels
60. Acupoints along Skeletal Indentations
61. Acupuncture Treatment in Water and Febrile Diseases
62. Regulation of the Channels
63. Acupuncturing the Superficial Luo
64. Acupuncture According to the Seasons
65. Biao and Ben and the Transmission of Disease
66. Energy Almanac
67. The Five-Phase Circuits
68. The Six Atmospheric Influences
69. Effects of the Five Elemental Phases and the Six Atmospheric Influences
70. Rules of Phase Energetics
71. The Six Macrocosmic Influences
72. Acupuncture in Epidemiology
73. Etiology of Disease
74. Essentials of Disease and Therapy
75. The Yellow Emperor on Pathology
76. The Importance of Correct Diagnosis
77. The Five Failings of Physicians
78. The Four Lapses of Physicians
79. The Three Yin and Three Yang Channels in the Human Body
80. Growth and Decline of Energy
81. Subtle Reasoning
Bibliography
About the Translator
Index
E-mail Sign-Up
PREFACE
A
S the end of the twentieth century nears, humankind can celebrate the
triumph of achievements in many fields, most notably science, technology, and
medicine. The technological breakthroughs of the last two centuries that helped
propel science to its zenith are responsible for raising standards of living,
increasing productivity, and saving lives. Most significant is the increase in the
communication of knowledge that made the vast application of science and
technology possible. Paradoxically, the same accomplishments are also
responsible for genocide on a massive scale, the destruction of our planet, and a
gradual diminishing of quality in people’s lives.
In recent years more and more disenchanted citizens of the West have looked
to the East for an “organic” answer to the great imbalance in the technologically
advanced “modern world.” Strangely, few realize that the East, specifically
China, contributed many discoveries and inventions to the modern world.
According to Robert Temple in his book The Genius of China, some of the
West’s greatest achievements have turned out to be simple borrowing from the
Chinese. These include decimal mathematics, paper and printing, the mechanical
clock, guns, multistage rockets, the magnetic compass, a ship’s rudder, manned
flight, the steam engine, paper money, and even brandy and whiskey.
But the scientific and industrial revolutions did not occur in China, despite
many advances prior to those of the West. One of the key reasons is that Chinese
science and technology always functioned within a philosophy that recognized
the importance of balance and harmony between human beings and the
environment. In fact, there is more similarity between this philosophy-science
paradigm of China and that of the ancient Greeks. As Joseph Needham, author
of the great work Science and Civilization in China, wrote, “The sciences of
China . . . never dreamed of divorcing science from ethics, but when at the
Scientific Revolution the final cause of Aristotle was done away with, and ethics
chased out of science, things became very different, and more menacing.”
Without sensitive regard to the larger scheme of the universal law, modern
science and technology will continue to produce disturbance and even
destruction to all life on earth. In the modern age the East can indeed offer the
West a philosophy of balance and harmony that is not only urgently needed but
necessary for the survival of human civilization. No other Chinese source of this